Run So Far
by Ori1
Summary: There was only one thing that would make Fi leave Michael and it finally happened.
1. Chapter 1

Run So Far

By Ori1

This is my first fanfic in a few years. I wrote it last summer during a trip to Maine and then forgot about it to just now. It is rough, unbetaed and blessed by my bad grammar and spelling. Still I hope someone else enjoys it. Review and let me know if you want more since I have a few more chapters planned out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Michael, Fi, Sam or anyone else associated with Burn Notice. But oh if I did.

Five years ago she made a choice. A choice not to tell him, a choice to leave before her body changed too much to hide. A choice to leave Fiona behind in dust and ashes and become someone else.

It broke her heart at the time because who wants to leave the person you believe to be your soulmate but the reason she had to leave was stronger than her need to protect Michael. So she contented her self with a prayer of protection and left.

But not before she told him that she was leaving, that she had to. A family member needed her and she had to go. She didn't cry though Michael could see the tears beginning to glimmer in her eyes. He told her that he would miss her but he understand.

She could tell that he didn't. For Michael the love he felt for his family was also balanced by a need to be far, far away from them. For Fiona family was something that had been taken away way too early in her life. Family was something to be cherished.

She head north and then west before stopping in Phoenix, Arizona. There she reinvented herself. Fiona Glenanne was no more. She was now Anne Macallister. A widow seeking the desert to burn away the loss of her husband. An orphan since she was in her teens, parents died in a car accident while visiting Ireland during their second honeymoon. No family, just the burning urge to restart life. Michael had taught her that the best covers were always the ones closest to the truth.

In Miami she had made money picking locks and blowing things up. Here she had a boring office job that would have made her scream if not for the other things on her mind.

In Miami she had drank beer and ate yogurt. Fought hand to hand and ran for her life with the occasional swim to keep in shape. Or sex with Michael to burn calories. He had always been good to burn a few thousand calories. In Arizona she ate a mostly vegetarian diet and drank decaf green tea. Went to yoga class and went shopping with the friends she had meet there.

In Miami she could have talked to Madeline, Sam or Michael. Here no one knew who she was. She found herself picking up the phone to call him countless times but she always stopped herself.

She had been in Arizona for six months when the pains came. She went to the hospital and seventeen hours later she was holding a seven pound bundle of humanity who looked like her father.

It was Fiona, not Anne who cried as she held Michael Weston's daughter.


	2. Chapter 2

Run so far chapter two

Still do not own.

There was a small spelling error with Michael's last name in the previous part. I will fix it some day soon.

Also Fi may seem to be extremely OC out of this but it has been five years for her. She is leading a different life to keep her child safe. So she is going to be different but I promise that there will be some very Fi like moments in the future, even an explosion or three. 

This also goes Au after episode 2x01 Breaking and Entering.

If she wanted to call Michael while she was pregnant it was a thousand times worse after she gave birth to Riley. Everyday was something new. First time she rolled over, first time she laughed, first time she got an earache and screamed through the night, first word (Wow) and first steps. Each time she picked up the phone to call she made herself picture how bad it could it be if the world discovered that Michael Westen had a daughter and she made herself put down the phone. Her daughter was healthy, happy and safe. That would have to be enough.

Being a mom was incredible and a thousand times harder than being a mercenary. True both jobs were messy and you frequently went without sleep but shooting someone was always easier than convincing a nine month old to go to sleep. And for the most part she had weaned herself off adrenaline. But occasionally she feels the need to blow something up or drop kick a club bouncer. When ever she feels this urge she cleans her already clean house to spotless, or she takes her daughter on a normal mother and baby outing, reminding herself why she left that life behind.

When Riley is two she decides to become a yoga teacher. She needs something more physical than office work and her preferred method is gone now. So she takes classes and gains certification. She gets a job working in a relatively nice studio and is still working there when Riley starts preschool.

Fiona has been in Phoenix for four years. She has a steady job that she strangely enjoys (she no longer pictures Michael being amused by the fact she could enjoy something but sex and weapons) and her daughter is a happy, healthy almost four year old who is attending a Montessori preschool. She hasn't dated in years telling her friends (and they are her friends) that she is happy being just Riley's mom and really who has the time for a man. And she does not have time since Riley is either moving at the speed of light or sleeping (during which Mommy was trying to gather together whatever was abandoned or broken during Hurricane Riley's waking hours.) But then she meets Jake at the playground. He is a single dad, divorced with a young son name Jamie. He vaguely looks like Michael but has Sam's easy going manner. Though he drinks less than Sam does or did. She no longer knows Sam or anyone else from that life.

She shouldn't but she gives him her phone number. It doesn't have to lead to anything she tells herself. And wouldn't be nice to have dinner and only have to cut up her own food.

Jack is nice, works as an engineer and is good with his hands. He is perfect for Anne Macallister but Fiona Glenanne misses someone who used to check for all the exits.

He mentions the idea of taking the kids to the zoo together but she tells him she needs to go slow. He agrees or so she thinks. Then one night they go by his place after dinner and he tries to force her to have sex with him. She is a little rusty in her self defense so she only breaks his arms. But lets him know if he ever comes near her again or tries this with someone else she will make his life a living hell. As she rides back in the cab (having taken the sixty bucks cab fare from his wallet) she promises herself no more men while cursing herself for letting her instincts slip. She just tells her friends that she and Sam wanted different things in life and wouldn't work out. (He of course has moved out of town, something to do with an anonymous IRS tip.)

It's four days after Riley's fourth birthday when Riley asks about her father for the first time. She freezes and puts down the spoon she had been using to stir the sugar into Riley's lemonade.( Michael had his yogurt. Riley had lemonade and Jelly Belly jellybeans)  "Your father. What brought this on sweetie?" Dear God she thought she had more time before this question despite the fact that Riley was a very curious little girl.

"Everyone else at school has a Daddy. Why don't I?" "Ella and Mark don't." "Sean has two." Her daughter counters.

She smiles at her daughter and forces the cover story she has told for years off her tongue.

"Honey your Daddy had to go to Heaven. But he loves you very very much." As she says it she begs God to forgive her, to understand why she does what she does.  That night after Riley went to bed Fiona (because she is always Fiona, never Anne when she thinks about Michael) pours herself a glass of rarely drunk red wine and ponders her life. Did she make the right choice all those years ago, leaving Miami and Michael practically the moment she found out she was pregnant. It had been the best choice at the time. Men who are trying to figure out there is a burn notice on them are hardly good paternal candidates she reminds herself. A little voice in her head pops up with the reminder that an Ex-IRA merc was such a better candidate for motherhood. She shakes aside the voice reminding herself she is a damn good mother now and comforts herself with the knowledge that Michael had not wanted kids. Said the world was just too damned dangerous in a voice that knew just what the world could do to a child. Still she doesn't sleep at all that night.

The months go on and Anne and Riley live out their day to day lives. There are trips to the mall, zoo and art museum. Play dates with friends and yoga classes taught. Riley is introduced to the Disney show Phineas and Ferb by one of her friends and it makes Anne laugh too.  

Anne begins to fill out to search out what school her daughter will go to for first grade and contemplates getting a hair cut as the heat index rises. All in all life is normal for the Macallister girls.

She used to wonder what would bring her and Michael back together again. Would someone find her and arrest her, forcing her to send her daughter to a man who would be surprised at her existence. Would her child be kidnapped to force her parents to do something. (The fear that made her run) But for the most part Anne believes that Fiona is her past and her past is buried.

 Unfortunately the past never stays buried.

 There is no arrest and thank God no kidnapping when the truth comes out. Instead Anne and Riley have lunch with friends at the Sunrise Cafe after school lets out early one day. Anne has a mandarin cranberry salad and Riley has a peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich. The girls play while the mothers talk schools and every day mom things. Anne is happy when she goes to pay the bill since it is her turn. She pays and they leave the restaurant after everyone says their goodbyes. Holding her daughter's hand she walks the down the plaza listening to Riley babble about princesses and zombie alien pirates, all of her favorite things. Her life is perfect in a way that she could have never imagined before.

So she could be forgiven for not paying that much attention when she accidently bumps into someone. Her past is dead and all she has is this moment.   "I am so sorry." She says embarrassed to have not been paying attention. Embarrassed to be a clumsy yoga teacher. Her heart stops when the man she bumps into says her name. Or what used to be her name.

Michael. Oh holy mother of God in heaven, Michael right here in Phoenix. She is frozen when Michael's says her full name, not the Fi that he always used to call her. "Mommy's name is not Fiona." Her daughter says perking up with the joy of correcting an adult because after all she is completely safe with her mother right next to her after all. If only she was right.

"The young princess is right. My name's not Fiona." She doesn't believe for a moment an agent as good as Michael would believe that she was a double for his former girlfriend for one moment. But she has to try. "And I'm afraid that we have to get going. Come along sweetie." Part of her wants to stay she has not realized how much she has missed him until just now. But it is safer to run. So she walks and prays that the past stays in the past. She doesn't look back as she walks away from her child's father.


	3. Chapter 3

Run so far by Ori

Hi. I still don't own.

This chapter was hard since it switched to dialogue and I still feel that I do not have Michael's voice down but I wanted to get this one out before sunday. It will be a few days to the next chapter since I want to watch the episodes I have on my computer again. I will be bringing the other show characters into the upcoming characters and Michael will be meeting Riley in the next one. So have a good weekend and enjoy.

Anne (Or maybe Fiona at this point. Who the hell knew anymore.) had not dared to pick up her car instead taking the bus and then a cab. Riley had offered no more than a few token complaints, scared by the look on her mother's face. She called her coworker Sasha to pick up the car since Sasha owed her more than a few no questions asked favors. Sasha then drove it around some and left it at her mechanic boyfriend's house, since it needed to be checked out. She doubted it would be bugged but still with Michael it was best to be on the side of paranoia. Because if you relaxed your guard you were dead. Michael probably would not want her dead but she was not going to lean too heavily on that belief because it could collapse all too easily underneath her.

 She should have gone to a motel but she wanted to be in her house, the home that she should not have let herself have. God how could she have thought she could escape from the things she had done. She had honestly thought that the world was big enough that she could disappear. Stay off the radar and raise her baby. Idiot.   Anne Macallister barely drank so that meant that Fiona did not keep liquor, other than a barely touched bottle of wine, in her house. Tonight she wanted the burn of an irish whisky but she did not want to dull her senses. Even as her stress levels rose with each imagining she tried to keep her mind clear to focus. Maybe Michael believed her. She had changed her style her clothing while still attractive was more yoga teacher than the beach bimbo ensemble she had worn in Miami. Her hair was darker. Her body was different due to pregnancy and breast-feeding. And her accent had changed. A hint of Ireland and a thousand other places still lingered but she had blended it with a slight western drawl. Maybe he would buy it.

Like hell he would. He would know her like she would always know him. But maybe he would walk away. The world they had walked in could forgot if the person had been gone long enough, quiet enough. And she had been quiet these past few years. And Michael was not the type to go after someone who was innocent or as close to innocent as she got. Maybe he would let her go. Walk away and never speak about her again. That thought hurt more than anything. So she stopped thinking. She sat with her back to the cool stucco wall and just listened. Listened to her daughter's breathing two rooms away, listened to the hum of the house and the sleeping neighborhood and then she listened to the sound of steps coming up her walkway.   Having a gun and a kid in the house was just a bad idea so there were none in her house. Still she was better with a knife than most SEALs so she waited. There was no picking the locks, no breaking down the door, hell no doorbell. Just a quiet knocking. So she opened the door.   Michael stood at the other side. "Hi." "Hi."

She wondered if that was it, Hi. They had been lovers, enemies, comrades and occasionally friends before she left and now all he could offer her was Hi. She felt cheated.

Michael broke through her musing. "Can I come in." His voice was controlled and she for once could not read it's tones.

 "Sure." Nervous, afraid but keeping a calm facade she let him into her sanctuary. " So what brings you to Arizona." "A job."  "So you are back to the spy business." Fiona had known he would never leave unless he was in a body bag. Once neither would she. But that changed the moment she realized what was going on with her body. "Not exactly. I work as a consultant for a security company." "I have to say Michael that is something I never pictured you doing." The lack of government backing to say the least. "And working as a yoga teacher is something I never thought of for you. The lack of bullets and bombs." With that the gloves were off. "I'm good at it. It is a safe job where I am not shot at and I come home every night." That was the most important thing. A safe life for her child. "Why didn't you tell me?" "Michael what would you have done if I had told you? You were trying to find out who burned you. And I hate to say it but you definitely have some issues with the concept of fatherhood. It was safer to leave and drop off the radar." "And you could not have told me when you left. I've looked for you Fi. And you were nowhere to be found. I thought you were dead." "I'm sorry. But I stopped being that woman the moment I found out I was pregnant. I had to." "So now you are Anne Macallister, mother to Riley Cathleen." Fi did not asked how he found this all out. Same way she did not ask how he found out where she lived in such a short time. "Yep. Yoga teacher, volunteers at her daughter's school, carpools and exchanges babysitting. What it lacks in bullets and bombs, it makes up for in many other ways." "Where you ever going to tell me." She owed him honesty at least. "Probably not." God she would kill for a whisky right now. But there was none so she contented herself by looking at him. He looked the same. How he managed that she did not know. "Michael half the time I had my doubts you were going to live another day let enough another year." "And you were not just as crazy." "Actually I was five times worse but I've changed Michael. I'm a mother now. Someone else comes first in my life." "I just wish..." he stopped. "For what?" she knew what he was going to say because she had wished for the same things a million times.

 If wishes were horses they would have had a calvary unit by now.

"I wish you would have told me because I would have found a way to leave with you."

"Maybe you have but they would not have let you go."

What was she supposed to do know she wondered as they stared at each other in silence. Miss Manners (Not that she would admit to reading her) never covered the situation of what two former lovers who were rated with every weapon known to man were supposed to say to each other after a love child and five years of absence. It would be an interesting column she supposed.

 "So did you ever find out who burned you?" He would have by now. A person can not be so obsessed with something, going at it full throttle without discovering something.  "Yeah but that is a story for another time. Tell me about Riley."  "Okay. Would you like a glass of water." An interesting segue way but she she needed to do something, to move before she imploded due to tension.

"Yes."

In far too short of time they were sitting at small table in the breakfast nook, each possessing a glass of ice water that they had not touched.

 How could she begin to explain Riley she wondered. Yes she had just filled out a form that listed Ri's likes and dislikes for a school but that was bland, it did not express who her daughter really was. And she wanted nothing more than to show Michael the amazing creature that their daughter was.

"Riley Cathleen was born six months to the day I left. She was an easy baby for the most part but when she was angry the entire block knew it. She is smart, likes building things so I got her into a Montessori school and she is thriving there. She likes volcanoes and is learning how to play the drums." But there was so much more and how could she show that to him.

 "Why did you choose that name?" Michael was quieter than she had ever seen him. He had this emptiness in him and she wanted to fill it up. God motherhood really had done a number on her.

"My closest friend in childhood was named O'Riley. It seemed right." Her friend had wanted all the normal things but most especially children and it was something she would never experienced having been killed in a bombing before her thirteenth birthday. Fiona had spent years trying not to remember her but the moment she held her daughter there had been no other name. "Cathleen was a nice normal middle name."   Suddenly she found herself standing up. "Do you want something to eat?" she asked going to open her cabinets. "We are all out of yogurt but I am sure we could find something if you are hungry."  "I'm not."

"Michael I can cook."  "I know. But I am not hungry."  Fiona burst into tears.  "Oh God I am sorry. I am so sorry Michael." She kept repeating it over and over again. Michael pulled her close to him. "I understand." was all he said.

 They stood that way for several moments while Fiona cried. She had always been a violent in her emotions but they passed quickly and she found herself wrapped around the only man she had ever loved.

 So it was no surprise that she found herself kissing him. And it that he kissed her back with everything inside of him.

He still tasted the same. And she found herself leading him into her bedroom. The bed was a queen but only she and her daughter had ever slept in it.  

"We have to be quiet, Riley is a light sleeper." she whispered.

 He nodded and kissed her again.

So what did everyone think? Please review since they make me want to write more.


	4. Intermission

Run So Far-Intermission by Ori1

Hi. I really did not want to disappear from the fandom for so long but February nearly killed me with the common cold that never ended. Then I lost track of the series so it took me a while to catch up. But thanks to the wonder of Itunes I have caught up. So as I work on the next chapter I offer you this offering that gives some insight into Michael and Fiona's mind during the years between Fiona leaving till they ran into each other in Phoenix. They are not my best work but they are little thoughts I had of the story but could not work into a full chapter. So enjoy and please review.

This little bit and the next chapter are dedicated to the ones who reviewed and kept me thinking of Michael and Fiona.

Arresting

As she laid in Michael Westen's bed for the final time she breathed in his scent trying to memorize it.

Wicked

Anne smiled and snapped another picture of her daughter and laughingly reassured her that she was the cutest wicked witch every.

Dangerous

The moment the test turned positive Fiona started to pack her bags. There was no other option.

Keepsake

Michael had a box of various odds and ends Fiona had forgotten at his apartment hidden in his closest.

Restless

The heat of Arizona combined with late term pregnancy and a guilty conscience resulted in yet another sleepless night for Fiona.

Folly

As she paced the floor with a teething Riley, Fiona wondered if Michael would be able to pull a miracle out of thin air and convince their cranky baby to sleep.

Hostile

Let someone try to take her child. She would show them destruction like they had never seen before.

Ordinary

It was an ordinary, run of the mill job that brought him to Phoenix the day he literally ran into Fiona.

Dreary

She may be Irish but Fiona could not imagine giving birth to Michael's child in a land covered in rain.

Embrace

Fiona wished she could witness Michael hug their daughter.

Timid

Though it would be safer for them all if Riley was a little more shy, Fiona would not trade anything for witnessing her daughter charm the people at Mommy & Me.

Efficient

Michael went to Fiona's apartment to try to convince her to stay but it was as if she had never existed.

Optimize

As she crisscrossed the country Fiona laid thousands of false trails to insure that no one searching for her would find her.

Treacherous

She nearly told Michael she was pregnant the final time she saw him, so scared but the threat to their lives was too real.

Opportunity

Michael could only watch as Fiona walked away with the child that could only be his. But he did not stay frozen for long.

Quarrel

It was easier to argue and scream than deal with the pain and fear.

Service

Working to even the odds made for cold bedfellows but it was the only future Michael could consider any more.

Bicker

As he watched Sam and Madeline bicker over the Christmas Tree for his nephew's first Christmas, he could not stop the fantasy of having a pregnant Fiona by his side.

Nervous

As she looked at her unborn child suck her thumb on the screen Fiona marveled and forced herself not to think of who should be here with her sharing fears and joy.

Trajectory

She plotted her exit in a Holiday Inn room with two U.S. Atlases and a laptop while eating strawberry yogurt with a liberal dose of gummy bears with a side of kosher dill pickles.

Deceit

The lies came easily to her as she told Michael that she had to leave. This way he would not look for her until it was too late.

Indulge

One more night Fiona promised herself. It was the only thing that she could give him other than an empty promise to return when her family member was better.

Oath

Fiona swore to any Deity that bothered to listen, if they would just keep Michael and their unborn child safe she would pay any price they would demand.

Thanks for reading. If you review you will get a teaser of the next chapter.


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